harvesting

i feel like a freakin' manic squirrel getting the harvest gathered in and getting ready for winter.  i do love the harvesting part... and up to a point, i enjoy preserving it for winter... but there is always a sadness about it for me.  i know it's the end of summer, which means the grey, wet days are ahead for the next several months.  for me autumn = sadness, winter = gloom, spring = delight and joy, and summer = happiness.  and despite all that, i love living here and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, and i love my life and there is very little i would change!!  ok, one thing i'd change is:  i'd hire maid service and i'd have a gardening assistant (for weeding and carrying heavy things and pruning trees and bushes ).  since there's little to zero chance of either of those changes coming about, i'll just do as i always have... ignore the dirt and the weeds for as long as i can.

 

this has been a year of abundant tomato harvest and i've been slogging my way thru doing something with them.  spent yesterday making and freezing tomato sauce and making salsa.  will try freezing some of that and see how it is when thawed, but i fear it will be very watery.  have also filled one drawer in the little freezer with perfectly beautiful red ripe tomatoes.  will use them in soups, etc... dip in boiling water, slip skins off, place on cutting board and stab with sharp knife, put shattered pieces in soup.  apply first aid if the stabbing knife missed the tomato and a finger was in the way.

it was so windy today that i decided to take hanging fuchsia  baskets down before they blow down.  they are on the ground on the patio so the deer can reach them easily and finish their nibbling of the blooms. at this point it really doesn't matter.   i've been amazed at how many different flowers they like.... nasturtiums, cosmos, dahlias, geraniums, roses of course but i moved 3 yesterday so they are all now in the garden behind the 8' fence!!

and now the wind is blowing hard and the rain is pouring and i will forego all the platitudes and cliches about the need for rain.  time to get a drink and settle in front of the tv machine and knit on that second baby jumper dress for one of our baby girls in Vamos.  see you on the flip side (whatever that means...)